Thankful Thursday: August 20th

Welcome to:

** If you're a new guest...here's the scoop: **

Each Thursday, at some point in the day (depending on how crazy my day is)...I will do my best to post a blog that will include 10 THINGS THAT I AM THANKFUL FOR from that week! *Sometimes I may have to post it late Wednesday night*. Thoughts may be serious, sarcastic, silly, heart-warming, stupid, it will vary...depending on my mood!

I will then ask that each one of you leave me a comment, stating something that YOU ARE THANKFUL FOR from that week...it can be ANYTHING! Something little, something BIG, something funny, something witty, something serious - Whatever you like!

It's SIMPLE...and hopefully, it will also be ENGAGING, FUN, A CHANCE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER, REWARDING, AND UPLIFTING!

1) For air conditioning during the first official heat wave of 2009 (in my neck of the woods)

2) That Yang and Thriller are getting along.

3) For taco night

4) For a good book

5) For good friends

6) For jobs that allow me to pay the bills and make a difference

7) For a good night's sleep

8) For comfortable clothes and shoes

9) For my big fluffy bed

10) For a life well lived

Thank YOU for being thankful with me!

WTF Wednesday: August 5th

Half way through another week and time for a round of WTF. Here are some of the moments from the past 7 days that had me shaking my head and saying WTF?

WTF was I thinking when I choose TGIFridays for lunch last Friday? Love the food but forgot that the avenue in front of the plaza where they are located often floods when we have a lot of rain and seeing as it's the 2nd wettest summer on record around here it goes without saying it is wet!

WTF is the summer going? Between boatloads of work and more washout days than I can count, it feels like it's barely begun and yet the calendar shows it is August already.

WTF didn't Acela (restaurant overlooking Citifield) have bacon. Seriously? $41 a plate for brunch and a gal can't get any bacon? *I didn't actually have to pay for brunch it was included in the ticket pack my friend had received when making a donation to ACS in exchange for the tickets but still... no bacon??

WTF to me for leaving my sliding back door open when I was out of the house all day. Luckily I have guard cats and everything was ok when I returned home.

WTF can't I click through and accept Facebook application requests quickly anymore? I don't have all day. It's annoying and I wish they'd fix it already.

WTF to the man who went on a rampage at LA Fitness near Pittsburgh last night killing 3 women and then himself. WTF drives a person to such extremes?

Aaaahhhh... feels good to vent. What are the moments of the past week that got your goat?

The Return of Fat Tuesday

For any of you who know me from MySpace I had a weekly feature on there for a bit called Fat Tuesday. I started it this January when I realized the numbers on the scale were creeping above what I consider an acceptable level. I was determined to climb on the fitness wagon yet again by watching what I ate and getting into some sort of regular exercise. I did pretty good with my quest, ending up just 5 pounds shy of my goal of 128 by mid-March.

However, just as my goal was in my grasp things got nuts at work and they didn't let up until all 4 of my spring Relay events were over at the end of June. By that time the the busy-ness had taken it's toll. One too many times of allowing myself to grab a quick bite coupled with the grinding hault of any sort of exercise program and I now find myself looking at the 140's on the scale yet again.

This might not seem like a big deal to some people but I know the risks associated with extra weight and a lack of exercise as well as yo-yo fitness. I don't like the way my clothes are starting to (not) fit and I am smart enough to realize that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result and therefore something has got to change.

About a month ago I started working out using my Wii and a program called "My Personal Fitness Coach". I was introduced to this program by my sister and it seemed like something I could it into my life. I've been pretty good about sticking to the workouts but the last 2 weeks I've gotten more consistent and this past weekend I even ramped things up and extended the length of my workouts.

What I haven't done is change my eating patterns and it shows. Despite weeks of fairly regular exercise combined with a a half hearted attempt at eatting healthy, the scale is still going in the wrong direction. So, Monday I started logging my calories. I am using a site called www.caloriecount.about.com Yesterday after logging a very sensible day of calories I warded off an evening snack by and kept my daily grade at A by doing 30 minutes of yoga. (the website grades your food intake for the day based on nutritional information)

I am a bit sad to admit I am still on the weight merry-go-round. Food is never going to go away. I just hope that I can keep the ride from speeding up or spinning out of control. It's a day by day thing... and I think it will be that way for life.. but for today it's about calories in versus calories out.

Anyone else out there struggling with fitness?

There Was No Bacon

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying 3 of my friends to a Mets game a the new Citifield. This wasn't just a normal day at the ballpark though. My friend Maryellen had bid on these tickets at a golf fundraiser back in May and the tickets included brunch at Acela, a restaurant overlooking the field. I was excited to spend the day with friends seeing a baseball game. I also was excited for brunch. I love brunch. I love bacon. Here was the view from our table:

Brunch included a huge buffet as well as choice of at least a half dozen entrees. I opted for the cheddar and caramelized onion omelet... but there was no bacon:

The other gals all went with a burger..... but there was no bacon.

And what would a good meal be without bacon.... uh, I mean dessert. Here is a shot of my lemon and raspberry mouse cake. Why they made the cake part green is beyond me.

The game was supposed to start at 1pm but at that time were were experiencing heavy rains and thunder and lighting. There would be a delay so we were forced to stay at the lovely restaurant and continue to wine and dine. We passed the time taking pictures and even this goofy video, despite there being no bacon.

The skies cleared and we were able to get the game underway at 3:30. We made our way to our seats. The view was nice.

They were great seats not only because of the view but also because they were undercover and didn't get soaked when it rained. There was no bacon but did I mention the lovely view?

The game was not all that exciting so we passed some of the time taking pictures. This amused us as well as everyone seated near us. (I know it looks like there is no ne seated behind us but there was. They had simply gotten up to go look for some bacon)

I did attempt to zoom in and catch the pitcher in action but despite several dozen takes every picture came out looking like this. Perhaps if I had had bacon for brunch I could have gotten a better shot. Who knows.

Here's the obligatory cheesy fans shot.

The Mets ended up losing 5 - 2 to Arizona. We packed up and headed for home after a few attempts to take our own picture in front of the stadium. The day not yet over I held out hope of finding some bacon.

We ran into some traffic just after getting on the New York State thruway for home.

We didn't let it bother us though. We passed the time goofing and we were home before long. (Ashley and I goofin' in the back seat)

So that was my day at the ballpark. It was good fun with good friends. True story..... but there was no bacon.